Remember getting through an airport without removing your shoes, dumping your water bottle or showing ID?
Remember when buying plane tickets by phone was faster than using a clunky website with a dial-up connection?
Remember when you needed a guidebook to plan a holiday, and when you had to phone ahead to get directions?
All these things are different now, thanks to two forces that have changed travel and tourism in the past decade profoundly and forever: terrorism and technology.
Long before September 11, 2001, air passengers walked through metal detectors and had their carry-on luggage screened by X-ray. These procedures failed to prevent the 9/11 attackers from boarding four jets with knives and box cutters.
In the aftermath of the attacks, the Transportation Security Administration was created, “the number of prohibited items doubled or tripled,” all checked bags screened, and “the scrutiny passengers undergo was increased,” said Robert Baker, director of global security intelligence studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.
A few months later, in December 2001, Richard Reid tried to blow up a plane by igniting explosives in his shoe. That led to barefoot passengers padding through the checkpoints.
Then in August 2006, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up aircraft using liquid explosives. That led to restrictions on liquids and gels.
Today, travellers who forget that snow globes, wine and water bottles are not allowed through airport checkpoints seem absurdly out of touch. And there is little sympathy if you miss your flight because you did not allow enough time for security lines.
The attitude toward air travel has changed over the last decade too. Flying is no longer fun. It is just one big headache: Flight delays, lost baggage, overbooked flights, fewer onboard amenities and fees for things that used to be free.
Despite the hassles, though, people fly more now than they did a decade ago.
Why do people take so many flights when it is so unpleasant? Because families are spread out; jobs require travel; and relatively low ticket prices encourage it.
Technology is the other big force that has changed travel in the past decade. Expedia and Travelocity began accepting online bookings in 1996, but the phenomenon of using the internet routinely to book and plan travel has exploded in the 21st century.
In 2009, for the first time, for example more than half of American travel bookings were made online, according to Douglas Quinby of PhoCusWright, a travel industry research company. (Anybody surprised that online bookings comprise only 50 per cent of travel, consider this: Most group travel, most cruises, many complicated itineraries and even the majority of lodging reservations still are booked through travel agencies, by phone or in person, Quinby says.)
The internet’s impact on travel is not just in booking; it also is in planning trips. Instead of buying a guidebook, today’s traveller might consult a destination website.
To find a restaurant, you might go online to Yelp or Chowhound, or ask friends for a recommendation through Facebook or Twitter. For hotels, you might visit TripAdvisor.com, which started allowing customers to post reviews in 2001 and today has over 30 million of them.
Technology has even changed the way we drive to our destinations. MapQuest started offering directions online in 1996, the same year General Motors Corp introduced Onstar.
Google Maps dates to 2005. An early handheld Garmin GPS device sold for $US589 ($A664.25) in 2003; today’s Garmins start as low as $US89 ($A100.40). But you might not need one if your mobile phone has a mapping device.
Crusing has also changed dramatically. The old saying that “cruises are for the newlywed, overfed and nearly dead” is no longer true. The last decade has seen innovations in cruising as in no other mode of travel.
Ships have become small cities, carrying 4,000 people, with amenities like ice rinks, rock-climbing walls, planetariums, surfing machines and water slides.
Some cruises cater to families, with kids’ programs; others are magnets for partying singles, offering easy trips to sunny climes.
“Cruising, once the territory of the rich and famous, has become a mainstream vacation today, and provides a well-packaged floating vacation with all the basics included in the price: accommodations, meals, sports-fitness facilities, and entertainment,” said Douglas Ward, author of the Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships 2010. “It has become a particularly good vacation value for families with children – hassle-free, entertaining and safe.”
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